---
title: "Cassandra feature support"
url: "https://docs.yugabyte.com/stable/explore/ycql-language/cassandra-feature-support/"
---
# Cassandra feature support
Summary of YugabyteDB's parity to Cassandra features
YugabyteDB supports most standard Cassandra features
Yugabyte Cloud Query Language (YCQL) has its roots in the [Cassandra Query Language (CQL)](https://cassandra.apache.org/doc/latest/cassandra/developing/cql/index.html "Cassandra Query Language (CQL)"). The following tables highlight the important differences in feature support between YCQL and Cassandra 3.4.2.
## Data types
### Primitive Types
| | Category | Types |
|---|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Integers | [BIGINT, COUNTER, INT, INTEGER, SMALLINT, TINYINT, VARINT](/stable/api/ycql/type_int/ "BIGINT, COUNTER, INT, INTEGER, SMALLINT, TINYINT, VARINT") |
| | Numbers | [DECIMAL, DOUBLE, FLOAT](/stable/api/ycql/type_number/ "DECIMAL, DOUBLE, FLOAT") |
| | Binary data | [BLOB](/stable/api/ycql/type_blob/ "BLOB") |
| | Boolean | [BOOLEAN](/stable/api/ycql/type_bool/ "BOOLEAN") |
| | Date/Time | [DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP](/stable/api/ycql/type_datetime/ "DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP") |
| | Collections | [FROZEN](/stable/api/ycql/type_frozen/ "FROZEN"), [LIST, MAP, SET](/stable/api/ycql/type_collection/ "LIST, MAP, SET") |
| | IP Addresses | [INET](/stable/api/ycql/type_inet/ "INET") |
| | JSON | [JSONB](/stable/api/ycql/type_jsonb/ "JSONB") |
| | String | [TEXT, VARCHAR](/stable/api/ycql/type_text/ "TEXT, VARCHAR") |
| | UUID | [TIMEUUID, UUID](/stable/api/ycql/type_uuid/ "TIMEUUID, UUID") |
| | TUPLE | |
### User defined data types
| | Operation | Details |
|---|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Create new type | [CREATE TYPE](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_type/ "CREATE TYPE") |
| | Delete types | [DROP TYPE](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_drop_type/ "DROP TYPE") |
| | Alter types | |
## DDL
### Keyspaces
| | Operation | Details |
|---|--------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Creating keyspace | [CREATE KEYSPACE](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_keyspace/ "CREATE KEYSPACE") |
| | Check before creating keyspace | `CREATE KEYSPACE IF NOT EXISTS` |
| | Modifying keyspace | [ALTER KEYSPACE](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_alter_keyspace/ "ALTER KEYSPACE") - No Op |
| | Check before altering keyspace | `ALTER KEYSPACE IF EXISTS` |
### Tables
| | Operation | Details |
|---|------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Adding columns | [ADD COLUMN](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_alter_table/#add-a-column-to-a-table "ADD COLUMN") |
| | Altering tables | [ALTER TABLE](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_alter_table/ "ALTER TABLE") |
| | Removing columns | [DROP COLUMN](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_alter_table/#remove-a-column-from-a-table "DROP COLUMN") |
| | Rename column's name | [RENAME COLUMN](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_alter_table/#rename-a-column-in-a-table "RENAME COLUMN") |
| | Check before altering tables | `ALTER TABLE IF EXISTS` |
### Indexes
| | Operation | Details |
|---|------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Adding indexes | [CREATE INDEX](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_index/ "CREATE INDEX") |
| | Removing indexes | [DROP INDEX](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_drop_index/ "DROP INDEX") |
| | Partial indexes | [Partial indexes](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_index/#partial-index "Partial indexes") |
| | Covering indexes | [Covering indexes](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_index/#included-columns "Covering indexes") |
| | Unique indexes | [Unique indexes](/stable/api/ycql/ddl_create_index/#unique-index "Unique indexes") |
| | Adding indexes on Collection | Cannot create index on `map/list/set/full jsonb/udt` and the keys,values,entries of a collection |
## DML
### Select
| | Operation | Details |
|---|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Select columns | [SELECT * FROM ...](/stable/api/ycql/dml_select/ "SELECT * FROM ...") |
| | Conditional select with `[NOT] IN` clause | [SELECT ... WHERE key IN ...](/stable/api/ycql/dml_select/#where-clause "SELECT ... WHERE key IN ...") |
| | Conditional select with `IF` clause | [SELECT ... IF ...](/stable/api/ycql/dml_select/#if-clause "SELECT ... IF ...") |
| | Select using `CONTAINS [KEY]` | [SELECT * FROM ...](/stable/api/ycql/dml_select/ "SELECT * FROM ...") |
| | `SELECT JSON` | [JSONB](/stable/api/ycql/type_jsonb/ "JSONB") is supported as a native type |
| | Select with `PER PARTITION LIMIT` | |
| | Grouping results with `GROUP BY` | |
### Update
| | Operation | Details |
|---|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Update columns | [UPDATE](/stable/api/ycql/dml_update/ "UPDATE") - Only single row updates |
| | Conditional update with `[NOT] IN` clause | Only single row updates |
| | Conditional update with `IF` clause | [UPDATE ... IF](/stable/api/ycql/dml_update/#if-clause "UPDATE ... IF") |
| | Update with `USING` clause | [UPDATE ... USING](/stable/api/ycql/dml_update/#using-clause "UPDATE ... USING") |
| | Conditional Update using `CONTAINS [KEY]` | `UPDATE ... WHERE CONTAINS ...` |
### Delete
| | Operation | Details |
|---|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Delete rows | [DELETE](/stable/api/ycql/dml_delete/ "DELETE") - Only single row deletes |
| | Conditional delete with `IF` clause | [DELETE ... IF](/stable/api/ycql/dml_delete/#if-clause "DELETE ... IF") |
| | Delete with `USING` clause | [DELETE ... USING](/stable/api/ycql/dml_delete/#using-clause "DELETE ... USING") |
| | Conditional delete with `[NOT] IN` clause | [Only single row deletes](/stable/api/ycql/dml_delete/#where-clause "Only single row deletes") |
| | Conditional delete using `CONTAINS [KEY]` | `DELETE ... WHERE CONTAINS ...` |
### Insert
| | Operation | Details |
|---|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Adding columns | [INSERT ... INTO ...](/stable/api/ycql/dml_insert/ "INSERT ... INTO ...") |
| | `INSERT JSON` | [JSONB](/stable/api/ycql/type_jsonb/ "JSONB") is supported as a native type |
## Transactions
| | Feature | Details |
|---|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Begin a transaction | [BEGIN TRANSACTION](/stable/api/ycql/dml_transaction/ "BEGIN TRANSACTION") |
| | End a transaction | [END TRANSACTION](/stable/api/ycql/dml_transaction/ "END TRANSACTION") |
| | SQL style transaction start | [START TRANSACTION](/stable/api/ycql/dml_transaction/#sql-syntax "START TRANSACTION") |
| | SQL style transaction commit | [COMMIT](/stable/api/ycql/dml_transaction/#sql-syntax "COMMIT") |
## Security
| | Component | Details |
|---|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Roles | [Manage users and roles](/stable/secure/authorization/create-roles-ycql/ "Manage users and roles") |
| | Permissions | [Grant privileges](/stable/secure/authorization/ycql-grant-permissions/ "Grant privileges") |
| | Users | Legacy Cassandra feature (*CREATE, DROP, ALTER, LIST*) |
| | `LIST ROLES` | But can be done using [query](/stable/secure/authorization/create-roles-ycql/ "query") |
| | `LIST PERMISSIONS` | But can be done using [query](/stable/secure/authorization/ycql-grant-permissions/#2-list-permissions-for-roles "query") |
## Other Features
| | Component | Details |
|---|------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Aggregates | [AVG, COUNT, MAX, MIN, SUM](/stable/api/ycql/expr_fcall/#aggregate-functions "AVG, COUNT, MAX, MIN, SUM") |
| | Built-in Functions | [Now, DateOf, CurrentTime, ToTime, UUID ...](/stable/api/ycql/expr_fcall/ "Now, DateOf, CurrentTime, ToTime, UUID ... ") |
| | Operators | [Binary, Unary, Null operators](/stable/api/ycql/expr_ocall/ "Binary, Unary, Null operators") |
| | Batch | Only programmatically via [BatchStatement](/stable/api/ycql/batch/ "BatchStatement") |
| | Materialized Views | |
| | Triggers | |
| | User Defined Aggregates(UDA) | |
| | User-defined functions(UDF) | |
## Learn more
- [Comparison with Apache Cassandra](/stable/faq/comparisons/cassandra/ "Comparison with Apache Cassandra")
- [YCQL command reference](/stable/api/ycql/ "YCQL command reference")